ZAKOPANE

A town in the Tatra Mountains (Poland)Zakopane is the biggest Polish centre of mountain hiking and skiing. Its
population is about 28.000 citizens. The town is visited by about 2.000.000
tourists a year. Zakopane is situated in Nowy Sacz voivodship, in southern
part
of Podhale region, at the feet of
Tatra
Mts. – the only alpine mountain range
in this part of Europe. It lies in big glen between the Tatra Mts. and
Gubałówka hill.
The Tatra Mts. are the main
attraction for the tourists from all over the world. Here you can find
the Internet's Guide-Book, referring to
Polish Tatras.
( Warning: Many links given below contain only information in Polish
language, soime are mixed (English and Polish), some refer to
documents written in
newer versions of HTML
language. Usage of NETSCAPE browser may be required. )
Zakopane is the town located at the highest elevation in Poland: its
municipal
region extend from 750 to 1000 m above sea level. The town area includes part
of the
Polish part Tatra Mts., with
the highest peak called Mt. Swinica (2301 m). The
central
point of the town - the cross-roads of Krupowki St. and Kosciuszki St. (look
at
the plan
of the town) are located
at the elevation of 838 m. Such an altitude causes that Zakopane is situated
in mountain climate zone.
The municipal law was given to Zakopane in 1933. From 1 Jan. 1995 Zakopane is
the independent unit of local government. The mayor of the town is Mr. Adam
Bachleda Curu.
The very first documents mentioning of Zakopane descend from XVII c. A.C. and
have described the Zakopisko glade.
Its further
history was connected with the
development of mining and metallurgy industries and then with the progress of
health service and tourism.
It went a long way from a little village to
climatic health-resort and next big town, named the winter capital of
Poland. There are plenty of relics and museums in the
town. The biggest one and the oldest is
The Tatra Museum ant its
departments. There are also
Nature Museum
of Tatra National Park and
biographical museums of famous Polish
artists, among them great composer
Karol Szymanowski and the poet
Jan Kasprowicz. Tourists can visit
numerous exhibitions of arts and galleries. There are also several artistic
schools and famous the professional
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
Theatre.
Mountaineers'
culture is shown in Tatra Folk Centre and at the opportunity of various
celebrities by amateur folk-groups from Zakopane and its vicinity. The folk
culture of mountaineers from all continents is presented at annual
every-September
International
Festival of Highland Folklore.
In Zakopane the newspaper
"Tygodnik Podhalański" (The Podhale
Weekly) is published every Thursday. It is distributed all over the
Podhale region and even among the Polish citizens of Chicago. There is also
local broadcasting station "Radio Alex" (FM 72,26 and 105,2 Mhz).
All over the year plenty of sport,
culture and other events go on in
Zakopane.

How to reach Zakopane?

There are many convenient traffic connections to various Polish cities. The
nearest civil airport is located in Poprad, Slovakia (70 km) and Kraków (100
km) - the first is about 1 hour, the second - 2 hours from Zakopane by car, by
bus
or by
train .
A little airport
(with a grass runway) is also in Nowy Targ, 20 km from Zakopane.
The nearest frontier crossings to the Slovak Republic are on Łysa Polana and
Chyżne, both open day and night, for citizens of all countries whereas these
in Chochołów and Niedzica are open only by day, for citizen from Polish and
Slovak Republic.